


The Cliffs

by Genie60



Category: Poldark (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 10:37:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7931401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genie60/pseuds/Genie60
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In anticipation of Sunday's S2 premiere, a little something featuring Demelza at the end of S1.  </p>
<p>Random thoughts and feelings....nothing more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cliffs

She watched as the last traces of his form faded from sight. Standing still for a moment, she let her hair whip around her face.  It made her feel like she was still a part of this earth; still breathing but not necessarily living. Turning to look at the sea, its waves cresting on rock and shore her mind went back over the last two and a half years and it was clear that her life truly started on that warm night in May. 

From then on she was part and parcel of everything Ross Poldark was and did. Even if he didn’t acknowledge it until months after their marriage.  She had never expected him to come looking for her and was prepared to go back to where she came from and have whatever kind of life was allotted to her.  So when he rode up behind her, ready to make her his wife she was not only confused she was hesitant. Why would he want her?  She was uneducated, unkempt many times and unwelcome by almost all except some of the mining families. She would bring him nothing but gossip and shame. She said as much to him on the ride back. She remembered clearly the conversation they had as he guided Darkie back to Nampara:  she sitting in front of him for the first time, her arm wrapped around his shoulder for balance. She had seen his face as she spoke, noticing how his eyes darkened at the mention of people not accepting his decision. He had discounted that and told her to accept this as a fact of life.  They were to be married and that was the end of the discussion.

Demelza felt slow tears fall down her cheeks as she pulled her shawl tighter around her body. The smell of the salt air was soothing to her soul. She often walked these cliffs while pregnant with Julia.  Julia. Her sweet baby girl, gone now, perhaps because of her and her natural instinct to help others.  Did Ross blame her for Julia’s death? He hadn’t said anything but they hadn’t really had a chance to talk since her recovery.  Yet, she now wondered if she did something to endanger her child. 

_Stop it, Demelza,_ she thought. _There is no use in thinking what might have been._

And honestly, her feelings of hurt now had to be put aside as she and Ross faced another crisis in their marriage and lives.   She felt a new pain of loss now; that of her husband, the man who gave her this life and whom she would do anything for, as he was led away, possibly forever.  Why?  Who hates us so as to want to destroy what little they had left? And that was each other.  But whoever it was, even if Ross’s perception was right and it was George, had no idea who and what they were dealing with. 

Because while she was a gentleman’s wife, deep down she was still Demelza Carne, child of the streets, urchin from Illogan. She was a fighter especially when it came to someone or something she loved. She was beaten and taunted as she fought for Garrick; she would die in any fight to save Ross.  Whoever it was that sought this revenge did not know who they were dealing with.  Suddenly, filled with a new resolve, she straightened her back and looked around for Darkie, all but forgotten in what had just happened. Seeing her meandering among the grass, Demelza made her way slowly to the mare and with some effort, for she was still weak, lifted her body into the saddle. 

She rubbed her hand on the bedroll as she grasped the rein, twisting it slightly around her pinky as Ross did. She resolved, they would fight this as one, whether Ross liked it or not.  She would be by his side through this as she was through everything else in their short lives together. She would take the brunt of what was thrown at them not only because she loved him, but because she was sure in some way that her being his wife was a factor in the animosity that was lobbed at him.  The charges the soldiers had accused him of were the result, again, of her actions. **IF** she had not gone to Trenwith she might not have courted sickness that took Julia and almost herself.   The thought brought a fresh wave of hurt and closing her eyes, she breathed in deeply to get her emotions under control. 

Giving Darkie a small kick to get going, Demelza made her way home, even though she dreaded what she would face upon reaching Nampara. Emptiness. The house was now just a shell waiting for life to fill it again. She wasn’t sure what the next days, weeks or even months would bring.  She only knew that she would have to ride out whatever storms they faced until they came through the darkness to the light. And she had to believe there was a light. 

 Demelza wasn’t a praying woman but on her slow ride home she silently asked for guidance and support from whatever being there was. She prayed for the soul of her daughter and for the safety of her husband. And lastly she prayed for strength for herself to carry them through. 

**Author's Note:**

> Another "at work" creation and probably just a bunch of drabbley prattle.
> 
> Not beta'd ('cuz I don't have one) and generally just off the top of my head....
> 
> It's all supposition but really...did anyone notice that Darkie aka Seamus was no where to be seen at the end? Just sayin'


End file.
